Aleem and Famida Virani – Living like 007

Living like 007 – Sleek and classy, with a twist of lime. BY SCOTT MCKEEN, EDMONTON JOURNAL

Man, this is a great house.

Not just because of the 120-inch projection TV in the theatre room, with its two rows of black-leather recliners.

Not just because of the exercise room — with its own bathroom and shower — across from the master bedroom. Not even because of the master bedroom’s ensuite, with palatial, two-door steam shower and stately soaker tub.

No, it’s because there’s just something so Bond-esque about the urbane orderliness to the place — that is, if 007 were married, with children and passionate about lime green.

Meet Aleem Virani and his wife Famida, along with their too-cute-by-half daughters, six-year-old Ayanna and Rayna, three. Turns out Mrs. Bond, er, Virani was highly influential in the uber-modern interior design in the family’s 4,000-square-foot, custom home. The main floor is like a crisp black-and-white photo with painted-in accents. Vibrant lime-green art pieces, couch pillows, stovetop kettle and kitchen drip tray add pop to the background of glossy blacks and whites, dark browns and — for modesty sake, let’s say 47 — shades of grey.

Aleem was born in East Africa. His family emigrated to Vancouver and then moved to Edmonton during his childhood. He is a chartered accountant and owner of K.V. Capital, a lender to developers and homebuilders.

Famida, Toronto born and Edmonton raised, is a speech language pathologist. The couple met in university, married 10 years ago and are part of Edmonton’s small, but active and benevolent Ismaili Muslim community.

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"We started the Aga Khan University in Pakistan some 32 years ago and it has grown into a truly international institution, with major campuses in Africa as well as in Asia, and with programmes in many fields. But right at the centre of its mission, from the very start, has been one principle goal: to help ensure the people living in the developing world are able to access international standards of health care."